Autism Research - Results.

Medical Institute for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) - UC Davis, Sacramento

Architect - Hammel Green & Abramson (HGA)

Mr. Sellars was the Principal in Acoustics and Audiovisual/ Networked multi-media. The M.I.N.D centre is the largest autism research institute in the world, with over 400 research and clinical staff. The campus of 3 buildings opened in March of 2003 The MIND Center’s focus on new diagnostic and treatments for autistic children, make it a natural location for utilizing the latest in visual capture and display technologies. Autism and its sister condition Fragile-X Syndrome are essentially extreme behavioral conditions and the current thinking is that by closely observing behavior in clinical observation rooms, coupled with treatments, researchers can unlock the keys to these mysterious conditions. Each of the 19 observation rooms is equipped with 2 video cameras and associated microphones, which feed a large random-addressable video/audio media server. Researchers can call up video clips from a patients clinical visits over a period of time and watch closely the responses to stimuli and how they have changed over time. Acoustical concerns were important as autistic children can be very noisy and it was deemed necessary to have good isolation between the observation rooms and the adjacent public areas. A 200 seat lecture hall/multi-purpose room was an important part of the project, for which acoustical and audiovisual/communications facilities were designed.